Child-resistant or lockable containers, wherein multiple or complex movements are required to open the container, have many uses. One use for a child-resistant or lockable container is to control the dispensing of items. Child resistant or lockable containers are often used to store and/or dispense pharmaceutical products, including medicine and medicaments in the form of pills and tablets. One well known example of such child-resistant or lockable containers is the inclusion of a locking cap on a medicine bottle. Locking caps typically require coordinated and complex movements. For example, some locking cap mechanisms require a coordinated alignment and tipping, axial pressure, or inward radial squeezing while turning the cap, to enable a consumer to remove the locking cap it from its container in order to access the medicaments.
Some products, such as medicines, are packaged in convenient flat boxes, which are often more difficult to secure with child-resistant features. One such method of packaging is the well known blister pack. Many medicaments in the form of tablets or caplets are sold in blister packs—blisters formed on a sheet sealed by a barrier that is punctured when extracting a tablet from a blister. When a typical cardboard flat box holding one or more blister packs is opened the entire contents of the package is exposed, making all of the tablets immediately available. The dangers posed by children with access to a large quantity of tablets not intended for their consumption is self evident.
One method commonly used to address this danger is to increase the gauge of the materials used to form the package, thereby increasing the force required to remove an item from a blister. One problem with this approach is that pharmaceuticals are often fragile, and the increased force can cause breakage of the product. Another problem is that many users of pharmaceuticals are elderly and many have diminished physical ability and dexterity, particularly in the hands. The increased force required may be too great for such consumers to exert to access the products.
Another method for creating child resistance features on a blister pack is the inclusion of complex movements that are not intuitive. Directions included with such packages instruct a consumer how to properly manipulate the package so as to gain access to the items contained therein.